


Camp Camp Apocalypse AU

by Stardella



Category: Camp Camp (Web Series)
Genre: Everyone is aged up 6 years, Gwen is a badass, If You Squint - Freeform, Nikki has a crush on Ered, Other, Tabii still has an eyepatch, Zombie Apocalypse, bits of Nerrison and Maxpres, flower scouts - Freeform, some small angst, sometimes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-29
Updated: 2018-12-02
Packaged: 2019-05-30 12:17:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,882
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15096545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stardella/pseuds/Stardella
Summary: Our favorite kids are back six years older and oh no crazy zombie shit is happening.Don’t let my incredible ability to not write a decent summary judge my work please? Thank you.





	1. Stars

**Author's Note:**

> This fic will probably take a million years to get finished heheh  
> Note that everyone is aged up 6 years (Max and Neil are 16, Nikki is 15, etc)

Two more bodies were knocked to the ally’s dirty ground, dark liquid pooling in the ground from their smashed faces.  
Nikki shook the access block from her baseball bat, then swung it at three more zombies limping towards her. She let out a war cry.  
“AIEEEAIEEEEAAAAHH!!” ~CRUNCH~  
More blood splattered on the brick walls as she bashed their skulls in. She turned to look over her shoulder at Neil.  
“Neil, watch your back!” She yelled to get his attention before whacking another zombie.  
Neil turned to find himself face-to-face with an armless zombie, growling and snapping at Neil as it staggered closer.  
He raised his crossbow and sent an arrow flying through the zombie’s forehead, knocking it backwards to the ground with a dull thud.  
Two more zombies were downed by arrows, as well as four with bashed-in skulls. The ally was quiet aside from the sound of their heavy breathing.  
Nikki walked over the bodies to Neil, who was listening and looking around for approaching figures.  
“You think we got them all?” Neil wondered aloud in a low voice.  
“I think so,” said Nikki, wiping sweat from her brow. She held up her baseball bat, which was dripping with blood. “Ugh. Let’s try hosing this off. Can’t have it stinking up the bus.”  
“Good idea,” agreed Neil, who was pulling his arrows free from the zombies’ heads and putting them back in his backpack.  
He walked over to a tall wooden fence at the end of the ally, wiping his sweaty hands on his vest. He threw his backpack over and then climbed on top of a stack of crates piled against the fence.  
“Come on,” he called to Nikki, who tossed her bat over the fence and grabbed Neil’s outstretched hands. He pulled her up onto the crate stack, then the two of them hoisted themselves over the fence and out of sight. 

As the pair walked through the deserted streets, they were alert and listening, waiting anxiously for growling or the sound of dragging feet. Dark clouds were rolling in the sky, creating a grey hazy feel to the already chilly September air.  
Neil and Nikki had been surviving together for about three months, ever since the virus broke out across the globe. The two teenagers were camping out in an old school bus parked in front of their empty high school. They had armored the bus so much that the only way in was the top emergency hatch.  
Neil always said that if they ever needed a quick escape, he could drive it to safety. But he kept the keys with him at all times, as to not let Nikki get her hands on them.  
Neil and Nikki’s footsteps echoed in the empty school parking lot as they made their way to the side of the building, searching for the hose.  
“Here it is!” Nikki jogged over to the coiled hose and untangled the last few feet. The faucet squeaked as she turned it, then waited.  
After a few moments a steady stream of water spilled onto the blood-covered bat, washing the red onto the concrete. Neil grabbed a handful of arrows and held them under the stream too. But the gore has already dried on them, refusing to rinse off. Neil groaned.  
“Go ahead back to the bus, I need to get these clean.”  
“Kay! Don’t get eaten!” Nikki slung the dripping wet bat over her shoulder and set off to the other side of the school.  
The brick walls were covered in everything from graffiti to blood splatters, and some parts were crumbling from nobody being there to take care of the building.  
Nikki jumped on top of a car and ran across the top, dropping back onto the ground from the hood. She kicked through patches of gravel, spraying rocks everywhere as she turned a corner.  
The bus, heavily armored with bits of metal and the doors welded shut, was parked in front of the empty school.  
Nikki climbed up onto the hood, then hoisted herself over the windshield and onto the roof. She pulled open the emergency hatch and, after tossing down her bat, lowered herself down and shut the door behind her. 

20 minutes later 

Nikki heard the hatch open and Neil’s feet hit the isle as he mumbled angrily.  
“-two more goddamn arrows, damn this fucking apocalypse, even the shit keeping us safe isn’t cooperating-“  
“Bad luck?” called Nikki from the front seat. Neil stomped to the front, and waved a few broken wood pieces in front of her face.  
“Two arrows broke when I was trying to get them fucking clean!”  
“Tsk,” Nikki hissed and popped open the glove compartment, pulling out two protein bars. “Eat your dinner, nerd.”  
She’ smacked Neil in the face with one and ripped the other’s wrapper off with her teeth.  
“Yeesh...” Neil mumbled, straightening his glasses and unwrapping the cellophane. He turned and looked around the bus as he crunched on the bar.  
They had removed most of the leather seats, leaving two rows in the back. There was a cooler in one corner, and a twin mattress on the floor next to it. The pair always shared it, to converse body heat and all that. They would never EVER sleep together in a sexual way; that would be as bad as sleeping with your sibling. Neil shuddered at the thought.  
He sat down on the mattress and examined his stinging elbow.  
“I skinned it again,” he hissed, prodding the pink raw skin. Nikki turned around in her seat.  
“You wear that dumb long-sleeve every day, how do you keep doing that?!” She yelled with her mouth full.  
Neil always wore his signature yellow sweater under a puffy blue vest. He had also started wearing glasses in the seventh grade, making him look a million times nerdier. Nikki made sure to mention this very often, very loudly.  
She had stopped wearing her hair in pigtails after middle school, and switched from overalls to a blue and gray letter jacket and jean shorts. She seemed determined to as much like she could beat the shit out of you as possible.  
Neil shrugged off the question, peeling the paper wrapper off of a band-aid. “Come on, you wanna get on the roof?” he suggested. Nikki’s ears seemed to perk up.  
“Oooh, yeah! Let’s go!” She practically flew out of her seat, down the isle, and up through the hatch.  
After putting the bandage on his elbow, Neil followed close behind her, to make sure she didn’t trip and fall off the bus roof.  
The two sat down side-by-side on the roof, their legs hanging down onto the windshield. The sun was setting in the distance, turning the cloudy sky shades of brilliant yellow and orange.  
Nikki squinted, staring at the horizon.  
“Jeez, I might actually go blind from this one!”  
“Then stop staring at it, dumbass.” said Neil as he cleaned his glasses on his shirt.  
They sat for a few minutes, listening to the eerie silence, with the occasional gust of wind. Then, Neil sighed.  
“Do you think we’ll ever see our friends again?”  
Nikki turned to him.  
“What do you mean?”  
Neil’s head was turned down as he spoke again.  
“I mean, we haven’t seen anyone since all this started, and I’m kinda thinking...maybe everyone is already...” he trailed off. Nikki chuckled and punched him in the shoulder lightly.  
“Nah, Neil, they can handle it! Nurf has tons of experience beating stuff up, same with Nerris! Maybe Harrison teamed up with Dolph and Preston to make some secret awesome underground tunnel system! And Ered is probably shooting up a million zombies at once in an attack helicopter!”  
“Space kid is probably dead though,” Neil snorted.  
“Ha ha, yeah he totally is.”  
They laughed for a few moments, then stared into the horizon.  
“What about Max?” Nikki asked, breaking the silence.  
Neil stayed quiet for a few second ms before answering.  
“He’s a survivor. We’ll catch up with him. Eventually.”  
Nikki nodded and laid back on the roof. Neil did the same, gazing up at the sky. The clouds were parting, revealing the darkening sky. A few early stars were barley shining through.  
‘Those stars are probably dead,’ thought Neil.  
‘It takes so long for that light to reach us, that by the time it does, the star is already gone.’


	2. Lady sickness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The title says it all. Poor Nikki. Oh and also two more survivors

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to the earliest filler chapter in the history of fanfics

The next few days were mostly uneventful.   
The two showered for the first time in what seemed like forever, busting into the locker rooms in the school.   
Nikki was out of the shower much earlier than Neil was, so she seized the chance to raid the gym equipment closet.   
She returned to the bus wearing a football helmet, a lacrosse stick over her shoulder, and dragging a duffel bag full of dumbbells.   
“Wow, Nikki! Working up some extra strength?” Neil had said, amused at the sight of the dumbbells. Nikki snorted.  
“No, dummy! These bad boys are for chucking at zombies!”

The next morning, Neil was slapped awake by Nikki roughly.   
“Wake up, nerd! We need to get to a pharmacy, stat!”   
“What the fuck? Why?” He rubbed his eyes, reaching blindly for his glasses. Nikki seized him roughly by the collar and stared into his very soul.   
“Don’t question me. I need lady stuff, so get up or I’ll stab you.”  
Realizing what she meant, Neil straightened up.   
“Okay, lets go immediately.”  
“Damn right,” said Nikki. She let go of his shirt and shrugged on her jacket.   
“Oh boy,” Neil sighed as he tied up his boots and grabbed his bag. 

“Okay, so the nearest pharmacy is downtown, that walk will take around two hours,” Neil informed Nikki as they started walking away from the parking lot. She kicked a stone loose from the cracked asphalt, groaning.   
“Alrighttt...” she whined. “I need food when we get there. Lots of it.”

They walked in silence for a while, the only sounds being their footsteps and Nikki’s lacrosse stick dragging on the ground behind her.   
They walked down a suburban road, lines with nearly identical houses.   
They all looked like empty shells, their windows smashed and their gardens shriveled and brown.   
Neil glanced at the cheap digital watch on his wrist. They had now been walking for 40 minutes.  
He reached over his shoulder and pulled a plastic water bottle from his bag, taking a long sip.   
“Can I have some?” Nikki whined from behind him. Neil stopped walking and turned around to face her.   
“Didn’t you bring your own water bottle?”  
“Yeah...”  
“Well, did you fill it?”  
Nikki shifted the lacrosse stick to the other hand awkwardly.   
“Nooo...”  
“Ugh,” Neil grumbled, handing over the bottle.   
“Thank you Neil!” She said in a sing song voice, taking a sip happily.   
“Why the fuck would you bring your bottle and not fill it up?” Neil whined. “It’s like you were in such a rush to get y-“  
“Shut up for a sec,” Nikki said quietly, putting a hand over his mouth. Her eyes darted around, scanning their surroundings. It seemed too quiet.   
“What is it?” Neil whispered through Nikki’s fingers.   
“I heard something,” she whispered back, uncovering his mouth slowly. She turned to her left, and her eyes went wide. “Oh my god!”   
Nikki grabbed Neil’s wrist and started sprinting down the road as fast as she could. And that was pretty damn fast.   
“Wh-Nikki!” Neil stuttered as he stumbled behind her, trying to keep up.   
Once they reached the bottom of the hill, Nikki turned he corner and let go of Neil’s hand.   
“What the hell? What did you see?”  
“I saw a face... in the window of one of the houses. I panicked!”  
Neil gulped.   
“Then maybe we should go back a different way. But for now let’s keep walking.”

Soon the pair of them found themselves walking at the edge of a deserted highway, and several signs overhead told them that they were almost to the downtown area.  
Neil picked up a tin can from the ground.   
“We’re gonna have to do a food run sometime soon,” he thought aloud. “I’m not sure how much more Gatorade and peanut butter my system can handle.”  
He tipped over the can, only to find a dozen beetles and some sort of orange-brown powder come spilling out. He shuddered and tossed the can over his shoulder.  
“We’ll grab some grub next time. We didn’t bring the cooler with us.” Nikki picked up the now empty tin can and whacked with her lacrosse stick, hitting it into the air and out of sight.

After a while Nikki and Neil spotted the pharmacy, on the corner between a bakery and a sketchy tattoo parlor.   
“What if we get some food from the bakery?” Nikki suggested. Neil grimaced.   
“And what? Find beetles and maggots in the moldy bread? No thank you.” He walked up to the pharmacy doors and tried the handle. Locked.  
“Step aside, nerd,” said Nikki, pushing Neil out of the way. She gripped her stick and swung it as hard as she could at the door.   
SMASH  
The glass shattered and fell out of the door frame onto the ground. Seconds later, there was an electronic beep and the automatic door slid open.   
“Wh- that’s a plastic stick, how the hell did you do that?” Neil stuttered in disbelief. Nikki shrugged.   
“I’m an agent of chaos.” She said simply, walking into the store with her head high. 

By the looks of it, nobody had thought to raid the store before Nikki and Neil. Most everything was still intact, if not a little dusty and cobwebby. The lights didn’t work anymore, but there was enough early afternoon sun coming through the windows that the two of them could still see clearly.   
Nikki immediately rushed to the hygienic section and then disappeared into the bathroom, leaving Neil to find some snacks.   
He picked up a bag of trail mix, three packets of gum, and a handful of protein bars, the same brand that they had been eating for three months. It came in a lot of flavors, so Neil never really got sick of it, and Nikki could eat a whole box of the same flavor and not even get physically sick.  
Nikki joined Neil, stuffing a small box into her duffel bag.   
“Ugh, Neil, why would you get trail mix?” She whined at the sight of the bag in his hand. “That stuff makes me want to throw up all my guts.” She grabbed it from him and shook it around. “Does it at least have M&M’s in it?”  
“Nooo...” said Neil. “BUT, it does have craisins!”   
Nikki threw the bag on the ground and stomped on it. “Not in my house, young man!”  
“I’m a year older than you!”  
They were interrupted by a loud sound nearby. It sounded like a can clattering on the linoleum floor.   
Both of them went silent, turning in the direction the sound had come from. It seemed to be right behind the shelf that they were standing next to. They glanced at each other before silently creeping to the end of the isle. Nikki raised her lacrosse stick and Neil readied his crossbow. They both turned the corner, ready to strike.   
The isle was empty, except for a can of cashews turned on its side, the nuts spilled all over. Nikki lowered her stick and walked over to the can.   
“That’s weird. How could this have gotten off the shelf by itself?” She wondered aloud, picking up a few cashews and popping them in her mouth. “Hey, these are pretty good!”   
Neil heard something behind him. He froze, the hair on the back of his neck standing on end.   
Taking a deep breath, he gripped his crossbow tighter, and in one swift movement, swung around to find the point of the arrow at the forehead of a figure, who screamed.   
“Stop! I’m sorry we followed you, please don’t shoot!”  
Neil stopped and lowered the weapon, eyes wide. Nikki rushed to his side, and her jaw dropped. 

Two kids stood in front of them, a girl not much younger than Nikki, and a boy that looked about ten. The girl had long red hair and freckles, and the boy had the same hair that fell into his eyes, and was wearing a black raincoat.   
“Where did you guys come from?” Neil asked, astounded that there were living people in front of them for the first time in three months.   
The girl gulped nervously, then spoke in a Scottish accent and a bit of a lisp.   
“W-we saw you two in front of our house earlier today, a-and we followed you, we figured you were going someplace with food.”  
The boy beside her spoke up, cutting off the girl.   
“My name is Mason McGee, and this is my sister, Abigail. We need help, can you help us?” It sounded very well rehearsed, like he had been waiting to say it.  
Neil and Nikki looked at each other, then Neil pulled the handful of protein bars from his bag and held it out to the kids.   
“We’ll see what we can do.” He said. The kids’ eyes lit up and smiled. 

The McGee siblings filled their bags with food, and then the four of them began the trek back to the school.   
“Our parents went out to get food two weeks ago,” Abigail was explaining to Nikki. “They never came back. We had enough food for a while but we ran out the other day. We were desperate, thank you so much for helping us.”  
“No prob, sister,” Nikki said. “Sorry about your parents, though. That’s awful.”   
Abigail nodded, her head down.   
“Before they left, my dad gave me this.” With shaking hands, she reached into her hoodie pocket and pulled out a handgun.   
“He said that if I ever need to protect myself or Mason, I should use it.” She looked back up at Nikki. “I haven’t shot it once. I’m scared to.”

Mason was chewing on a piece of gum, talking to Neil.   
“My mum said to say that if we were ever alone and we find someone. I didn’t think I would ever get to say it.”  
“It sounded good, kid. You guys are pretty brave,” Said Neil. Mason smiled, fiddling with his backpack straps.   
Neil checked his watch, then got Nikki and Abigail’s attention. They stopped walking as Neil explained the plan.   
“Okay, so we should be getting back to the bus in about an hour and a half, then get some rest and figure out what to do after that. Sound good?”  
“Sounds good!” Nikki confirmed. “Come on g...Mason?”  
She turned around to find that the boy had disappeared. “Mason?”   
“MASON?” Abigail called. Their voices echoed in the empty streets.   
“I’m in here!” His voice called from one of the houses, his hand waved out one of the windows at them.   
“Mason, what the hell are you doing in there?” Said Neil, jogging over.   
“I heard something, come on, I wanna see what it is!”  
“Wait-“ Too late. He had already ran into another room.   
Nikki and Abigail started climbing in the window, muttering about how this wasn’t a good idea.   
‘I couldn’t agree more,’ Neil thought to himself as he sighed and followed them, readying his crossbow. 

A chilly breeze swept through the house, coming in through the busted windows. The floors squeaked and crunched under Neil’s boots as he stepped on bits of broken glass and dusty floorboards.   
“Mason!” Abigail whisper-shouted. “Where are you?”   
“In the bedroom! There’s something here, come see!” His voice rang through the house, echoing in the empty rooms.   
Neil crouched down and picked up a framed photo that was laying face-down on the floor below the mantelpiece. He swept off the dust and glass, and squinted to see it in the dark.   
In the photo there was an elderly couple sitting on the couch, surrounded by their grandchildren and cradling a tiny kitten in their arms. They looked so happy, wide smiled were crossing their faces as the children around them laughed and reached a hand towards the kitten.  
Neil smiled, then set the photo back on the mantelpiece before getting back to following the girls. 

Mason was standing in the doorframe of a large bedroom, holding a long thin pipe that he had pulled from his backpack. Neil, Nikki and Abigail appeared behind him, making him turn around and grin.  
“Good, you’re here. Look, there’s something in the corner,” he pointed to a shadowy lump behind the bed. “I think it’s a dead body. I’m gonna poke it with my pipe.”   
Abigail gasped and grabbed Mason’s wrist.   
“That’s incredibly stupid, why would you do something like that?”   
“I wanna tell people that I did!”  
“Tell who, our dead parents? Your dead friends? There is nobody to brag that you touched a dead body to at the end of the world, Mason!”   
Mason jerked his hand away.   
“I don’t care! One little touch!”  
“Your absolutely ridiculous, you know that?”  
“At least I’m not a coward! Run away if you don’t want to see it, then! Go on, run!”   
Abigail stood in place, her face as red as her hair. Mason smirked. “Good decision, O Responsible One.”  
He reached out his arm and gave the lump a sharp poke with the pipe. There was a small squishing sound, then he turned around triumphantly.   
“See that, Abigail? You too, Nikki, Neil? Dead as a doorknob! Nothing to lose our hair about!” He raised the pipe and gave the lump another sharp jab. 

It all happened so fast, Neil and Nikki barely had time to react. The lump rose up and started groaning, splitting in two. The room was filled with the growls of two zombies only seconds later.   
One reached out and grabbed Mason’s shoulder, the other his ankle. The boy was frozen in fear, hyperventilating and flailing his arms around uselessly, his pipe discarded on the floor.   
Abigail pulled the handgun out of her pocket and pointed it at the zombie that had Mason’s ankle.   
BANG!  
A shot rang through the house as the figure slumped to the floor.   
Not even a second later the most blood-curdling scream they had ever heard came spilling from Mason’s mouth as the second zombie roared and clamped its jaws around the boy’s throat.   
“NO!” Abigail screamed.  
BANG!  
Another shot, and the zombie fell to the floor.   
“Mason, no no no!” Abigail rushed across the room to her brother, who had fallen on his hands and knees, gasping and coughing.   
“Please, no, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, I was awful, p-please I’ll do anything...” she was spluttering and crying as she took Mason’s face in her hands.   
Nikki leapt over the bed, and Neil knelt beside Abigail, sweating and shaking.  
“Mason, keep calm buddy. Let me see your neck.”  
Neil reached into his bag, rummaging around for anything that could be useful. Mason slowly lowered his hands from his neck, revealing the deep bite mark.   
Dark blood gushed from the teeth marks, and the skin around it was already starting to turn a dark greenish brown.   
“Oh god... oh jeez, I- I don’t know if...” Neil panicked, his hands too shaky to do anything useful.   
Nikki was putting her foot through the zombie’s heads, making sure that they had definitely stopped moving. She would not let them cause more damage.   
Abigail was sobbing and gasping, trying to stop all the blood running down Mason’s front.   
“Abi...it’s cold...everything’s cold...” his voice was weak and gravelly. The bite mark was starting to turn purple, and grayish veins were starting to creep out from it and spread onto his shoulders and cheeks.   
“I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you...I was being so stupid...” Abigail shushed him.   
“Don’t you dare say that, Mason. You are not stupid, I’m stupid for saying that about you, I’m so sorry...” she wiped one cheek with her wrist.   
Mason smiled weakly, blackish blood running down his chin.  
“I’m gonna tell mum and dad that I touched a dead body... and Charlie, and Grayson and Hailey...” he laughed weakly, making the wound throb. “Please kill me, Abi, don’t let me hurt you...”   
His eyes were starting to glaze over, and his hands were starting to shake and spasm. “Quick, Abigail, you have to do it, please.”  
Abigail wiped her eyes, gasping and sniffling.   
“I’m so sorry, Mason...”  
“It’s okay...I f-forgive y-y...” he let out a low groan, hitting the ground and slamming his hands over his ears and squeezing his head.   
Abigail stood up, pointing the gun at Mason’s shaking form. Neil leapt to his feet, pulling Nikki and Abigail back.   
“Mason?” Abigail whispered.   
A horrible roar came from the boy as it leapt up from the ground and made a swipe at Abigail.   
All three of them screamed, followed by three BANGs as Abigail shot the zombie in the head over and over.   
By the time the body hit the floor, Abigail was crying uncontrollably. The weapon clattered to the floor, followed by the shaking girl as she broke down sobbing into her hands.   
Neil and Nikki bent down beside her, their hands on her shoulders and their eyes on the crumbled zombie form.   
“I’m so sorry, Abigail...” said Neil. “I-it all happened so fast, there was nothing you could have done...”  
“There was.” Abigail wiped the tears from one cheek and sniffed. “I could have been a better shot. I could have shot the zombie before it...it...” she glanced down at the gun in front of her.  
“One bullet left.” She picked it up.  
“Abigail, what-“  
“This one will hit its target on time.”   
Nikki’s eyes widened.   
“Abi, don’t...”  
“Wait for me, Mason.”  
In a split second, the barrel was in her mouth and her finger on the trigger. Nikki screamed, Neil tried to knock the gun out of her hand, but...  
BANG!

A second too late.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha I love misleading titles. Sorry Mason and Abigail, you were just too horribly written to survive the chapter. At least no actual character from the show has died...
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> Yet


	3. That damn dog

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ice cream is discovered! Threw in some emotional Nikki and some nice best friend moments with Neil and Nikki, and who knows? Maybe someone else will finally join the fun?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jeez, sorry this chapter took forever! I’ve been really busy for the past month so I haven’t had time to write anything. Enjoy a chapter that actually progresses the story!

Nikki stared into the setting sun, her eyes burning. She used her thumb and index finger to pry her eyelids ever farther apart, staring harder at the glowing orb hanging low in the sky.  
The bus hatch opened behind her and Neil climbed out onto the roof.   
“Hey, Neil!” Nikki said, not taking her eyes off the sun as her friend sat down beside her. He sighed.   
“What exactly do you plan on gaining from this?”  
“Uh, superpowers. Duh.”   
“Well, don’t go blind. I don’t want to have to deal with that.” Neil shoved a protein bar against Nikki’s chest.   
“Eat your dinner, you weirdo.”  
“Oooh! Yummy!” Nikki tore her eyes away from the horizon and unwrapped the cellophane.   
“These are our last two,” Neil said in a low voice, breaking off a bit of his and eating it.  
“Aw jeez, really?” Nikki said, swallowing her food. Neil nodded.   
“After this, it’s just gum and like half a water bottle. Let’s go get some more food tomorrow.”  
“Okay...” Nikki chewed slower. 

Neil looked over at her.   
Nikki seemed to be feeling normal, but why would she be? The two had witnessed the death of two children, one by suicide, only last week. She had to be a little shaken up.  
“Nikki, why do you think Abigail did...that?” He said softly, breaking the silence. Nikki stopped chewing she swallowed, setting the bar in her lap.   
“I guess she just... couldn’t live without her family like that. She was really heartbroken about Mason.”   
“I know, but don’t you think she went a little too far?” Neil thought aloud. “She could have survived with us, we were gonna help her!” Nikki looked down.   
“I don’t think it was about survival. I think it was about...living.” Neil stared at her. “She tried so hard to protect her brother, and she probably couldn’t live with herself cause he had gotten hurt.” Nikki’s voice was unusually quiet, and she stared off blankly, deep sadness on her face. That didn’t happen often. No, it didn’t happen EVER.   
“Has...anything like that ever happened to you, Nikki?”  
She paused before responding.   
“My little cousin died when we were in sixth grade. She got mauled by a wildcat.” She sniffed. “I learned to keep it down because she was in a better place, but I felt so bad seeing her like that, I felt like...like I had let her down.”

Neil didn’t know how to respond to this. He was shocked, mostly because Nikki was getting so in-depth about it, and because he had never noticed anything wrong with her I’m sixth grade.   
“You saw your cousin die?”   
“Yeah, in the hospital. She died in her sleep.” A tear rolled down her cheek, making a trail through the dirt and grime all over her face.   
“I had never seen anyone die, it made me feel all weird inside. Like someone had filled me up with emotions and shook it up. I kept it down...and then the th-thing happened in eight grade...” she wiped her face as Neil’s eyes got wide at the thought. 

Two years ago, when they were in eighth grade, Max was hospitalized after a suicide attempt.   
Neil and Nikki had noticed that he was very quiet a few weeks before it happened, but then Neil got a call from the hospital in the evening.  
The two had rushed over as fast as they could, to find their friend with bandaged arms, telling them half-heartedly to fuck off.   
Neil had collapsed on Max’s bed sobbing, and Nikki was very quiet and shaky throughout the visit. 

Now she sat next to Neil, her face red and tears dripping down her face.   
“I always felt like I needed to be tough and pretend everything’s okay, because my cousin looked up to me like that. Now she’s gone but I still want to be strong for her.”  
Neil, unable to think of anything to say, spread out his arms and let Nikki hug him, crying into his shoulder. He rubbed her back in what he hoped was a comforting manner and listened to her sniffles die out as the sky grew dark. 

Twelve hours later, Nikki seemed to have cried herself dry, and was back to her normal chipper self.   
“Come on Neil, faster!” She cheered.   
Neil groaned, pulling their large blue cooler behind him, which would have been empty if it weren’t for the fact that Nikki was sitting in it.   
“How come I have to pull it?” Neil complained. “You’re, like, twice as strong as me!”  
“Cause I called dibs, dummy! Ladies get first dibs.” Nikki reached into her duffel bag and pulled out her football helmet, pushing in over her curls and onto her head. “I can pull you on if you want!”   
“Well, on the way back, that cooler will be full of food. And I weigh, like 120 pounds on top of that.”  
“Is that a challenge I hear?” Said Nikki eagerly.   
“No. Neither of us are riding in the cooler on the way back.”   
“Aw man.”  
Only an hour ago, Nikki had slurped down the last bottle of water, without realizing that there wasn’t any more left after.  
Now they were walking to the nearby grocery store to stock up on whatever decent food they could find to survive the next few weeks. 

The automatic doors slid open, an electronic ding sounding.   
Neil walked into the store, dragging the cooler, which held a dozed-off Nikki, behind him.   
“Alright, we’re here. Now get up and get some food.”  
Nikki snapped awake with a snort.   
“Okie dokie!” She leapt out of the cooler and practically flew past the register into the the store.   
Neil sighed and followed the sound of Nikki’s footsteps on the linoleum floor. 

The past few times they had come to this store since the apocalypse started, the two had limited their food options to canned food, plastic bottle drinks, and anything wrapped in cellophane.   
The dark ceiling lights and silent air fans told them that the apocalypse had knocked the power dead. Which meant that refrigerated food couldn’t be trusted.   
“iiiiIIIIIII GOT SOME ICE!” Nikki sang as she ran towards Neil with a giant plastic bag in her arms.   
“That’s great, Nikki, now let’s find...wait, ice?” Neil stopped and stared at the bag. “It’s not melted?”   
“No, why would it be melted?” She got no answer, as Neil had dropped the cooler handle and started running to the back of the store. Confused, Nikki put the ice in the cooler and closed the lid before running after him. 

Neil was searching the back wall with his hands when Nikki arrived.   
“What are you looking for?” She asked. Neil was muttering to himself.   
“If the freezers are working, then why aren’t there any-AHA! There you are!” He flipped a tiny switch, and waited.   
After a few seconds, the ceiling lights began to flicker on one by one, filling the store with light.   
“YES! LIGHTS!” Neil cheered as the fans began to hum and roar to life.  
“So this joint had electricity the whole time, but the lights were just off?” Nikki asked.   
“Yep! These fellas care a lot about saving power!”   
“Wait, that means...” Nikki looked over at Neil, the same idea flashing through both their brains.   
“We could have been eating pizza and ice cream this whole time?!” shrieked Nikki.   
“And we’ve been living off protein bars and shitty granola?!” Neil added at equal volume.   
They stared at each other, giddy with excitement.   
“Quick, Nikki!” Neil announced. “To the frozen section!”   
“To the frozen section!” She repeated, leading the way as the two of them raced across the store, cheering. 

*ding!* The door seemed to wave goodbye as Neil and Nikki emerged from the store, dragging a full cooler and holding Ben and Jerry’s, broad smiles on their faces.   
“Damn, that worked out!” Neil said happily, licking the cherry garcia off of his spoon.   
“Yeah! This is the best thing I’ve tasted in three months!” Nikki agreed, shoveling more moose tracks into her mouth as she walked, not bothering with a spoon.   
“Feels good.”   
“Feeeeeels good.”

The pair walked back to the bus in comfortable silence for a few minutes. Nikki scooped the last bit of ice cream into her mouth, tossing the container over her shoulder and burping loudly. She looked over at Neil, a mischievous grin crossing her chocolatey face.  
Slowly she inched towards him, until her chin rested on his shoulder, making him slouch a bit as he walked.   
“Hey Neilllll~” sang Nikki.   
“What?”  
“I told you that I could pull you in the cooler on the way back, you know!”  
“Nikki, the cooler is stuffed. I got this.”   
“But I could!”  
“No.”  
“Are you saying I’m not strong enough?” Nikki pouted.  
“What.”   
“Come on, Neil, I could handle you no problem. Watch this!”   
“Nikki, wh- hey! Stop!” Neil exclaimed as Nikki wrapped her arms around his waist, lifting his feet off the ground.   
“Put me down!”   
“Never!”   
Neil’s ice cream container fell to the ground, but it was ignored as Neil kicked and struggled as Nikki hoisted him higher, laughing.   
“I knew I could lift you!”  
“Put me down, Nik-AH! NO, STOPAHAHAHAHAHA!” He started laughing as Nikki tickled his sides.   
“What’s that, Neil? Keep the tickles coming? You got it!” She giggles maniacally.   
“No! STOP IT AHAHAHAHA!”   
“Suffer, demon!”   
Suddenly Nikki’s foot caught on a loose rock, and the pair of them went toppling to the ground in a giggling mess.   
Neil sat on Nikki’s chest, pinning his friend down.   
“Get off, you ogre, I can’t breathe!” Nikki gasped, punching Neil’s legs.   
“I thought you could lift me, what happened to that?”   
“Ughhh I’ll kill youuuuuu!”

The pair lay on their backs on the sidewalk out of breath from laughing.   
Clouds were rolling across the early afternoon sky, casting shadows over their flushed faces and cooling their cheeks.   
“You know. Nikki,” said Neil. “I know this is, like, the end of the world and stuff...but I’m glad you’re still here.”   
“Aw, you big sap!” Nikki snickered.   
“Really! I think I would have died if it wasn’t for your strength and reflexes. I would never stand a chance with just these noodle arms!”   
“Yeah, well I would have been toast without your nerd brain, nerd.” Nikki smiled giving Neil’s arm a light punch.   
“Haha, yeah.”Neil sat up, followed by Nikki. “But seriously, Nik. Thanks for being there.”   
“Ditto, bud.” She hugged Neil round the chest with the grip of a bear trap, squeezing the air out of him.   
“Okay, Nikki, I think that’s enough.” Neil wheezed, weakly patting her back.   
“Nope! You’re trapped!”   
“Heh.”  
They sat in silence for a few more seconds before...  
“Ohmygod Neil look!!!” Nikki pushed her friend away from her roughly and pointed to something down the road behind Neil’s back.   
“What? Is it a zombie hoard? Rescuers?”  
“No, it’s better! Come on!” She leapt up and bolted.   
“Wait, Nikki!” Neil adjusted his glasses, grabbing the cooler and running after Nikki.   
After only thirty seconds of running, however, Neil saw Nikki sprinting back in his direction.   
“What are you-“  
“Nevermind! It wants to kill us, run!”   
Neil blindly turned around with Nikki and ran again, looking over his shoulder.  
A huge dog, a german shepherd by the looks of it. It was sprinting after them, it’s teeth bared. It started barking, echoing in the empty town street.   
“Oh Jesus, it’s angry!” exclaimed Neil.   
“Yeah! And hunting us!” Nikki yelled. “Keep running!”

As Neil’s feet pounded on the asphalt, he felt a drop from the sky. Then another, and another.   
Before long the pair were running through the pouring rain, the smell of petricore rising from the street.   
The cooler made a rumbling sound as as it was hauled along by Neil, followed by thunder booming loudly overhead.   
Nikki sprinted around a corner, then another.   
“Come on, Neil! This way!” She yelled, grabbing his hand and leading him into an alleyway.   
“Where do we go now?” Neil panted as they met only a brick wall and a large dumpster.   
“I don’t know! This was a really bad idea in hindsight!”  
The two turned to see that the dog had caught up with them, crouching down into a hunting position and growling as it crept towards them.  
“Nikki, get on the dumpster! Come on!” yelled Neil as he started climbing the dumpster, hauling Nikki with him.   
“What about the food? It’ll eat it all!” Nikki protested over the sound of rain hitting the street and buildings.   
“Better the food than us!” Neil said, swinging one foot over the top. Nikki climbed up with him, barely getting her right foot up before the dog attacked, barking and snarling as it hit the dumpster a second after the two were on top.   
Neil and Nikki backed into the brick wall, clutching each other tight.   
“What do we do?” moaned Neil. “That’s a huge dog, it could probably jump up here!”   
“Yeah...” sighed Nikki. “Maybe it’s a STUPID dog?”   
The german shepherd gave nasty snap at Neil’s foot, almost catching it in his jaws. He screamed and pulled it back, holding Nikki even tighter.   
“Jesus, this isn’t how I wanted to go out,” Neil groaned. “I wanted to die of, quote unquote, ‘natural causes’ and donate my body to science!”   
“And I wanted to get set on fire,” Said Nikki. “There go MY plans.”   
Neil laughed nervously.   
“At least I get to die with my best friend,” he said.   
The dog’s paws were scratching the edge of the dumpster, trying to find a good hold.   
“Yeah, that’s pretty good I guess.” Said Nikki, smiling. “Love you, nerd.”  
“Same.”  
They held each other close and waited for the dogs bared teeth and snapping jaws to find their skin to be upon them.   
Instead, the mad barking stopped.   
The dog seemed to forget the dumpster, instead turning around and yipping happily, it’s ears perked up.   
“Get over here, you dumbass dog.” A voice from the other end of the ally.   
Nikki and Neil looked up to see the dog bounding towards a dark figure walking through the puddles towards the dumpster, a rifle in hand.  
“What kind of sh-“ the figure was silenced at the sight of the two teenagers holding onto each other for their very lives, staring wide-eyed at him.   
He stepped forward, the rifle clattering to the ground. He was very skinny, with a dirty blue hoodie and an unmistakable head full of curly, untamed hair.   
“Neil? Nikki?”  
Neil felt like his throat was closing up as he searched for words as Nikki stared.  
He found his voice at last, coming out as barely a whisper. 

“Max?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Max: Hey there demons. It’s me, ya boy


	4. Idiots

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Max’s POV, three months earlier.   
> High school is already a bitch without a zombie apocalypse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A lot of familiar characters in this chapter, so here’s some info!
> 
> Freshmen: Space Kid, Dolph  
> Juniors: Max, Nikki, Neil, Tabii  
> Sophomores: Nerris, Harrison, Sasha, Erin  
> Seniors: Preston, Nurf  
> (Ered is already in college)
> 
> A hint of Max x Preston early in the chapter, just a warning.

Three months earlier

Sigh.   
Another day, another ride on this shitty bus. Max walked down the isle, dumping his bag in the seat behind where Nikki and Neil were sitting.   
“Morning Max!” Nikki said cheerfully, turning around to face he friend as he sat down. Max grunted in response, taking a sip of coffee from his thermos.   
“Aw, someone’s grumpy today!” Nikki mocked in a baby voice. “Hey, I found a bug on the window five minutes ago, and now he lives in my pocket! Wanna see?”  
“Fuck off, Nikki. Coffee now, human interaction later.”  
Neil rose lazily over the top of the seat, bumping fists with Max.   
“Amen to that shit.”  
“Yep.” At least there was another human being who understood the importance of caffeine, unlike the rest of these idiots.  
“Give them back, you orc!”   
Speaking of idiots...

Max turned to see Nerris and Harrison fighting in the seat across from him.   
Nerris had on her signature wizard cape, nerd tee, and shorts. Over tights.   
If that wasn’t the mark of a true loser, Max didn’t know what was.   
Harrison had a little more fashion sense, at least. The other sophomore wore an orange tee over a gray long sleeve and a black beanie.  
He held Nerris’s round glasses high above his head, a wide mischievous grin on his face as the girl practically climbed him to reach her glasses, spewing insults at him.  
Harrison had grown significantly in the past few years, until he was almost as tall as Neil, who was already like a spaghetti noodle.   
He also reeeeeally liked to take advantage of the fact that Nerris had barely grown at all in the past 5 years.   
“Harrison, give them to me!” She whined. “I need them, they give me perception points!” 

Max sighed, taking another sip of coffee. The bus would only fill up with more idiots the rest of the ride.   
As if on cue, the bus doors opened again and up the stairs came the school’s resident theater gay, Preston of course.   
“Hello, Max!” He said loudly, smiling ear to ear. “May I sit next to you?”  
The smaller boy grunted a no, but, just like any other day, he sat down anyway.   
“Are you doing anything this weekend?” Preston asked after a few minutes. Max felt his face flush red. “I saw an poster for an AMAZING-looking production that looked just up your ally! If you want, I could-“   
“God, fuck off, Preston!” Max groaned, sinking lower in his seat. “I’m busy, so maybe you could shut up for just a minute?”  
Preston stared for a moment, frowning disappointedly, before collecting his bag and moving to a different seat.   
Neil and Nikki leaned over the back of their seat, scolding Max under their breaths.   
“Jeez, Max, calm down with him.”   
“He just wants to hang out,” added Neil. “Give him a chance.”   
“Plus, it’s super obvious that he likes you!”  
“What?” Max groaned. “No, he’s just super annoying.”   
“No way, he’s totally you!” Nikki urged. “Don’t you see how he looks at you, like, all the time, every day?”  
Max put his hood over his head, muffling his voice.   
“Shut up.”  
Nikki gasped.  
“You like him too, don’t you!” Her eyes lit up.   
“No I don’t, now shut up, you animal!”  
“Ooooh, Max, you’re caught!”   
“Max and Preston, sitting in a tree...” Nikki sang, making Max and Neil groan and protest.   
“Jesus, Nikki, what are you, 4?”  
“Yeah, seriously Nikki, that’s like Space Kid levels of immature.” 

By the time the bus rolled into the school parking lot, the conversations on the bus had turned to the news.   
“I heard that some dead guy came back to life last month, and now there are like a million more cases just like it!” said Harrison.   
“Perhaps there’s dark magic afoot!” Nerris added.   
“No way,” Neil protested. “It’s some sort of hyper-contagious virus controlling body functions and resetting the brain!”   
“Maybe it’s aliens!” Space Kid piped up from the back of the bus. Boos and bits of trash thrown in his direction were the boy’s only response.   
“What do you think, Max?” Nikki asked Max, who was absent-mindedly scrolling on his phone.   
“I think this a load of bullshit cooked up by the government to try and torment America into giving them money for answers to a problem that doesn’t exist. Everyone should just quit their bitching and get a life outside what the news tells them for views.” He replied, not taking his eyes off the screen. “That’s What I think.”  
Nikki stared for a minute before shrugging and proceeding to yank Harrison’s hat off his head and throw it Space Kid, cackling. 

The rest of the morning dragged out beyond the limits of what Max considered slow.   
Homeroom consisted of waiting for the bell to ring, the creaky old teacher taking attendance, and Max finishing off his remaining coffee.   
Then came science class, which was the time of day that the real Neil that everyone knew and made fun of came to life.  
After science was French class. The only thing that could be learned there was that you should never, ever go to France. But you could get away with saying fuck and everyone would think you were talking about seals.   
Math class wasn’t all bad. The worst days were when they had a pop quiz, which happened to be today, when their usually decent teacher hardened into a emotionless, self-esteem crushing rock and melted her students into blobs of liquid stupidity.   
Next came social studies class, which never taught Max, or anyone, anything. Whatever they could scrape up enough energy to take a note of happened a hundred years ago and wasn’t relevant anymore in any way.   
The whole class knew that social studies was the perfect time to get some good shut-eye before the only part of the day that kept everyone alive: lunch. 

Max walked down the school’s front stairs, rubbing his sleepy eyes and adjusting his backpack straps.   
“Hey Max.”   
He turned to see Neil hurrying down to walk alongside him.   
“Hey Neil. You headed to lunch?”   
“Yeah, thank god. I don’t have any tutor sessions, and maybe, if I keep a low profile, I won’t run into-“  
“Oh Neiiiiiiiil!~”   
“Shit.” Neil sighed as footsteps rapidly approached the two boys. Just as they stepped off the last stair, their least favorite overly-attached classmate reached them and grabbed Neil’s shoulder.   
“Hi Neil! It’s me, Tabii with two i’s!”   
“Mhm... we’ve met”.  
“You know, you should toooootally come eat lunch with this girl!” The blonde pointed to herself and blinking seductively as Neil cringed.  
Tabii has barely changed at all in the five years that she had been terrorizing them. She no longer needed her eyepatch, looking very strange without it. She was still considerably shorter than the rest of the grade, coming only up to Neil’s shoulders.   
“No thanks, Tabii...I got things to do.” He laughed nervously, trying to move past her. She grabbed his collar and forced him down to her height, stopping him in his tracks.   
“Like what, hot stuff? Maybe I could join you...”   
“Like, eating lunch with literally anyone else.

“Tabii, What are you doing?”   
“I thought we were gonna eat lunch at the mall!”   
The other two bright-haired girls came down the stairs, starbucks in hand.   
“Oh, it’s Neil. And the other one.” Sasha sneered.   
“Fuck off, you cunts. Leave me alone.” Neil hissed.   
“Wow, that’s sooo original,” Erin replied, rolling her eyes. “Tabii, I really don’t know what you see in this loser.” She gestured to Neil. “Look at those wimpy-ass arms. The only thing he’s lifting with those is my self-esteem.”   
“Yeah Tabii, lets get out of here before we catch that gross rash they’ve got.” Sasha said, dragging her friend away.   
“Actually, Sasha, acne isn’t a-“   
“Shut up, Erin.”   
Tabii blew a kiss at Neil behind the other girls, winking. Neil gave her the middle finger in response.   
“Yeesh, those fake-ass cheerleader girls are the worst.” Said Max after they were out of earshot.  
“I know right? Seems like they get worse every damn year.”   
“Hey guys! Whatcha talking about?” Nikki blurred out, sliding down the stair rail and landing next to the boys ungracefully.   
“Nothing,” Said Max. “Let’s go eat. I’m starving.” 

The high schoolers were allowed to eat lunch anywhere on campus, and sometimes at the mall down the street if they were sophomores or older. Most students preferred the football field, where you could sit in the grass or on the bleachers to eat lunch.   
Nikki bounced towards their usual spot, the side of a grassy hill next to the jog track.   
“Jeez, that super-virus is all anyone’s talking about,” muttered Neil as they passed a group of freshmen talking on the bleachers. “It’s like some sort of zombie infection or something.”  
“Haha, that would be awesome! I wanna beat up some zombies!” Nikki said, a fire in her eyes. “Hi-ya!” She screeched, karate-chopping Neil’s poofy hair.   
“Ow!” The brunette rubbed his head and straightened his glasses. “I’m sure the patients are contained in a secure laboratory if it’s THAT serious.”   
“Yeah, whatever.” Said Max. “Anyway, I’m about to start gnawing on a fucking stick at this point, so let’s just eat.” He reaches into his bag for his lunch.   
Nikki smiled, digging in her bag excitedly.   
“I packed a potato!” She announced proudly, pulling a brown lump from her bag.   
“That’s it? Just a potato?” Neil questioned, squinting.   
“Well, I’m gonna put ketchup on it, duh! It’s like french fries for cavemen!”  
“Ugh.” Neil pulled out a thermos of soup and started sipping it, watching Nikki tear the potato apart with her teeth, a disgusted look on his face.   
Max started eating his take-out food, something he picked up that morning before school. His folks weren’t around to pack him a lunch, and they most likely wouldn’t if they were.   
His mom had up and left a few days ago, leaving a note about some kind of business trip. Kind of a shitty excuse considering his mom was unemployed.   
Max’s dad had been out of the picture since sixth grade, so that meant Max had gotten the house to himself for the past few days. Nobody to tell him to get his damn homework done. Except Neil when he came over, which was often.   
As Max chewed his cold burger, he scrolled on his phone, looking for something to keep his mind busy.   
Weird.   
Even on the internet, stuff about that virus was everywhere.   
“Zombie-like virus outbreak.”  
“Possible global emergency?”  
“Spreading like a wildfire.” This was too freaky to be legit.   
“God, people need to stop overreacting about this shit!” Max complained, shutting off his phone and putting it in his bag.   
“Uh, Max?” Said Neil, tapping his shoulder.   
“What?”  
“Look.”  
Max and Nikki turned to where Neil was facing, and their eyes widened.   
At the far end of the football field, seven or eight figures were staggering slowly towards the fence, drawing the attention of a group of seniors. Max, Neil and Nikki watched in disbelief as a few figures started to climb the fence.   
Several of the the seniors ran over and started yelling at them to get down. One of the them shoved one figure off the top of the fence, but the other dropped down and grabbed the student. He started screaming, and the others tried to pull the figure off of the boy, but he kept crying out in pain, falling to his knees.   
The other figures hopped the fence, grabbing the students as they screamed and tried to run.  
One senior ripped his arm out of their grasp, running and yelling at everyone in the football field area, which was most of the school.   
“RUN!” He screamed. “THEY’RE MONSTERS! GET OUT OF HERE, GO!”   
People started screaming and running towards the school. Others stayed frozen in fear as the figures, now double in numbers, began lumbering towards the crowds of people, grabbing anyone they could get their hands on. The students were panicking, running in all different directions, trying to avoid the monsters.   
Max felt people bumping into him, but he couldn’t tear his eyes away from the staggering figures.   
They had gray, rotten-looking skin, their eyes were blank and dead, and blackish blood dripped from every hole in their face.   
Max couldn’t move.   
This was it? This was the virus?   
It was turning people into monsters.   
“Max, we need to get out of here!” Neil grabbed his bag and got up.   
“Come on, Max! This is freaky!” Nikki pleaded.   
Neil grabbed Max’s hand and pulled him up, though he was to shocked to have much of a response. His feet stumbled and caught on lumps of dirt and grass as Neil pulled him along.   
There were students pushing past him on every side. He couldn’t believe his own eyes, what he was seeing...   
“Max, run! We gotta go, come on!” Urged Nikki. He could feel Neil’s hand slipping away from his as more bodies pushed him away like a pebble in a stream.   
“Max!”  
He felt his foot get stuck and his body hit the ground.  
The sound of panicking people seemed to surround him, crush him, bury him.  
“Max!”  
“Maaaaaax!”  
He could hear Neil and Nikki’s voices, but couldn’t see them.   
He couldn’t see anything as the darkness surrounded him, and he blacked out. 

Ugh.  
Max’s head felt like it weighed a million pounds as he came to, groaning.   
Was that all just a freaky dream?  
Max picked up his head, feeling the hot June air on his dirty face. He could smell the grass from the football field, mixed in with a putrid smell that he could only describe as smelling like...death.   
Nope, this definitely wasn’t a dream.   
He heard a groan behind him, and the sound of shuffling footsteps approaching him slowly.   
Max dropped his head to the ground, him immediate response being to play dead.   
The footsteps passed him, and he opened one eye to get a good look at the scene.   
There was a person, no, a zombie, walking past him, not paying Max any attention. There were dozens of other zombies lurching around the football field, but the students were gone.   
‘Then again,’ Max thought. ‘A lot of these things probably used to be my classmates.’   
Okay, he needed to get out of here. Soon enough, these things would figure out that all the panicking teenagers were gone, and that there was a free meal on the ground right in front of them.   
Max turned his head slowly, catching sight of his backpack 20 feet behind him. There could be something in there that he could use as a weapon.   
Maybe. Chewed pencils and over-priced textbook would only get a guy so far in a zombie fight. Unless he used the bag itself as a weapon and hit a few zombies with it, buying enough time to get somewhere safe.   
Yeah. Good plan.   
Max took a deep breath, and pulled himself off the ground, sprinting towards his backpack as fast as he could.  
The zombies immediately noticed the movement, and started lumbering towards him. They were faster than they looked, that’s for sure.   
Max reached his bag just as a zombie grabbed the back of his hoodie. He swung the bag as hard as he could against it’s head, knocking it to the ground. Several others advanced towards him as he scrambled towards the tall fence.   
He gave one zombie a kick in the stomach, and upper-cut another one sharply. That didn’t knock them out, but certainly slowed them down.   
Max reached the fence, throwing his bag over and climbing up himself. A tall zombie snarled at him and grabbed hold of his ankle, trying to pull him down. With a grunt, Max kicked it off and climbed over the top , dropping down on the other side. He grabbed his bag and, with one final look at the hoard of zombies trying hopelessly to reach him through the fence, took off.

‘Dammit,’ Max thought to himself as he cautiously walked through an empty town road.   
It had been nearly half an hour since he had escaped the football field, and he was still trying to wrap his head around what had just happened.   
‘Okay,’ he reviewed the events of the morning in his head. ‘Those people had the virus and infected a ton of other people at school, that’s why everyone was panicking. Nikki and Neil got away, but I got trampled and blacked out. I’m okay, that’s good, but Nikki and Neil might be infected, who knows?’  
He kicked a stone, sighing.   
“This is so much worse than that stupid sickness at camp back then.” He muttered.   
Keep walking, Max.

Before long, the park came into view.   
It was a nice place, someplace where parents could take their kids to run and scream somewhere else besides the house, or just to walk around.   
Nice and peaceful. Plus, it seemed to be totally deserted, no zombies or anything. Maybe Max just needed to calm down and come up with a game plan.   
He sat down on a bench near the playground, making sure that he was in the clear before pulling out his water bottle and taking a few sips.   
The summer air, combined with the stress of what had just happened, and the fact that he had been walking for half an hour had made him very hot and sweaty.   
Max tugged off his hoodie and stuffed it into his backpack, realizing that he had never finished his lunch earlier.   
As if on cue, his stomach grumbled loudly.   
He sighed.   
Might as well eat it now. He would probably be able to get some more grub later. 

Max opened a small styrofoam box, which contained a dozen chicken nuggets. They were cold, but still food.   
He ate one slowly, his mind still spinning.   
He might be able to hide out at his house, if he could get to it without being attacked. But his apartment complex was all the way across town, and if there had been that many zombies at school, the rest of town must be crawling with them by now.   
Then again, he had to get take-out for lunch because his place barely had any food. How long would be be able to stay there?   
A rustling from the bushes behind him interrupted his thoughts.   
Max turned slowly, reaching into his backpack for something that could be used as a weapon. He pulled out a ruler and held it up, ready to stab a bitch.   
The rustling stopped, and Max was surprised to see a long black snout poke out of the leafy brush.   
A large dog emerged, shaking off leaves and dirt from its shaggy black and tan coat. Max lowered the ruler, staring at the dog.   
It was a very skinny german shepherd, with chunks of its ear missing and several bald spots on its body.   
“You’ve been through some shit, haven’t you, dog?” Max muttered, standing up from the bench and approaching the animal.   
It whimpered and backed away when he reached out his hand, as if scared he was going to hit it. Max pulled his hand back, taking a seat on the grass in front of the dog. It shuffled its paws, whining.   
“It’s okay, dog,” he reassured it. “I won’t hurt ya.” He looked down at the box in his hand.   
“You want a chicken nugget? I got like ten.” Max placed one in his palm and held it out to the dog.  
It sniffed around his hand, trying to make up its mind. After a few moments, however, it accepted the nugget, chewing and wagging its tail.   
“There you go,” Max smiled slightly. “Good dog. Good...”  
Pause.   
Quick check.  
“...girl. Good girl.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My writing strategy: write actual plot at like 3 am when I’m 5 minutes away from death, then go back and edit in the morning when I regain my common sense


	5. Maya the monster

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back in the present, a beautiful reunion with our boy Max doesn’t really go as expected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m alive! Whoooo!   
> Sorry for the hiatus I had sooooo much shit going on ughhh  
> But I’m back!  
> Enjoy this chapter   
> Or don’t it’s up to you

-back in the present- 

“Max!”  
Nikki’s face lit up as she leapt off the dumpster and sprinted towards her friend.   
She grabbed him tight around the chest, ignoring the threatening growls of the german shepherd.   
“You’re okay!” Nikki gushed as Max returned the embrace. “You got us all worried!”  
“Yeah it’s been pretty- ack!” Max was lifted from the ground as Nikki squeezed him tighter, grinning ear to ear.   
“Alright you freak, time to let me breathe.” He wheezed, chuckling. Nikki let him down, her face still shiny with excitement.   
Max brushed off his shirt, cracking his signature Max Smirk.   
“I knew this damn apocalypse wouldn’t be enough to stop you from being Nikki.” He noogied her, drawing a laugh from the girl.   
Neil was climbing carefully off of the dumpster, eyeing the dog nervously. He approached Max and Nikki, mind swimming.   
Neil had thought that Max was dead. He had almost given up hope, and now here he was, with an attack dog and a gun, acting like it was no big deal. Who did he think he was?  
“Hey Neil, what’s up?” Max said casually, and suddenly the taller boy snapped.   
“What’s up? What’s up??? We finally catch up with you after three months, and that’s all you have to say?”  
“Neil-“ Nikki started, her grin faltering. Neil put up a hand, silencing her.   
“You know what I thought? I thought you were DEAD, Max. Part of me genuinely thought that you had died the second you were out of our sights back at school!” Angry tears were starting to appear in Neil’s eyes as he continued towards Max, who was standing there, stunned.  
“You thought these bastards could kill me?” Max said, offended. “Out of the three of us, I would have thought I would be the only one to survive this whole damn thing! You probably wouldn’t have gotten through the first WEEK if it wasn’t for Nikki!” He gestured towards the girl, who was no longer smiling. “At least she knows how to defend herself against these fuckers! Knowing you, I figured you’d just hide out in an empty room, trying to find a solution to this problem until you get so trapped in your own nerd brain and go crazy!”  
Neil’s face was flushed as Max spewed insult after insult at him.   
“And you?” He countered. “What have you been doing this whole time? Aside from not getting any taller and still acting like you’re all high and mighty?”  
“We’re not going there! Not fucking now!”  
“Shut the fuck up, you tiny-ass gremlin!”   
“Make me, motherfucker!”  
Max suddenly jumped at Neil, throwing him to the wet pavement and throwing a punch at his jaw.   
Dammit.  
Neil tried to shove him off, kneeing him hard in the gut. Max groaned and smacked Neil’s forehead to the ground with his palm.   
Twack.  
Another punch.   
“Guys!” Nikki protested.   
A fist in Max’s eye.   
“Stop it!”  
A shoe on Neil’s fingers. “Jesus christ-“  
Punch.  
Kick.  
Elbow.  
Another punch.  
BANG!  
The dog yelped in surprise and the two boys froze as they looked at the source of the sound.   
Nikki was pointing Max’s discarded rifle to the rainy sky, smoke swirling from the end of it.   
“God, what is WRONG with you guys?!” The girl yelled. “We finally get back together after a million years of what? Fighting zombies! And what’s the first thing you do? Fight each other!”  
“It’s just cause Neil’s acting like a total prick...” Max muttered as the pair stood up, nursing their bruises and scrapes.   
“I swear to god, Max, you wanna fucking g-“   
“Shut up, you animals!” Nikki yelled, setting them quiet. “I know that we got separated in the beginning and I know that sucked, but I always knew you were out there, Max! Even if Neil sometimes didn’t.”  
Max and Neil glared daggers at each other.   
“But now we found each other, and I wanna enjoy being back with my team again! So let’s just be happy about it, dammit!” She dropped the gun at her feet and planted her hands on her hips.   
“Now hug and make up.”  
The two boys grumbled and shuffled their feet.   
“This is stupid...”  
“I said hug!”  
Neil’s ears suddenly perked up at the sound of groaning that wasn’t coming from Max.   
Oh no. They had been making a lot of noise.   
“Nikki, we gotta g-“  
“You’re not getting out of this, nerd!” The girl dismissed him sternly.   
“No, there’s zo-“   
“Nope!”  
“For fucks sake!” Max snapped, grabbing his rifle from Nikki’s feet. He took aim as the first couple zombies staggered into the ally. “Get out of the way, Nikki!”  
“What?” Nikki turned around and gasped. “Neil, why didn’t you say anything?” She scolded, pulling her lacrosse stick out from over her shoulder.   
“What? I di- you know what, whatever.” Neil pulled out his crossbow. “I don’t want to die here with this shitbag.”  
“Take that back, you piece of shit!” Max yelled, firing at a zombie that was approaching Nikki, arms stretched out.   
The dog was barking wildly and leaping at the zombies, sinking its teeth into their wrinkly flesh and shaking the fillings out of them. Nikki stared at the german shepherd, eyes wide with awe.  
‘This must be a hoard,’ Neil thought as he took out another zombie. More and more were lurching into the ally, enough that for every one that they took down, five more would appear. Neil’s crossbow was running out of arrows, and he didn’t have enough time to pull them from the zombies and reload before another one would be upon him.   
Nikki was swinging her crossbow around wildly, taking down multiple in a single swing. But she was growing tired, still slightly winded from running from the dog earlier.   
Max fired shot after shot, the bangs echoing off the dripping ally walls. He spotted a zombie creeping towards him from the back, and swung around to blast its face in.   
Click.  
The rifle was out of ammo.   
“Fuck!” Max whacked the zombie down with the barrel and suddenly found himself backed against a wall. More figures surrounded the boy, cornering him.   
He froze as their droning groans filled his ears and their hot, putrid breath made him want to puke.   
Too many.  
Their faces were in shadows, obscuring their features and making it appear as though Max was being closed in on by shadows.   
More were closing in.  
Too many.  
His brain wasn’t working, he was frozen.   
Trapped.  
Max could sense countless hands reach out to grab him. Tear him. Rip his apart.  
Too many.  
There were too many.

Another zombie hit the ground, an arrow sticking out of its forehead.   
Neil loaded another in, taking aim at one of three groaning figures staggering towards him.   
He suddenly caught sight of Max, who was slowly sinking down a wall out of view through the crowd of zombies, tears visible in his eyes.   
All the negative thoughts towards the boy seemed to disappear as Neil’s heart leapt into his throat.   
“MAX!” He yelled, whacking zombie after zombie to get to him. Through a gap in the groaning crowd, Neil grabbed Max’s wrist and pulled him out to him.   
“What are you just standing there for? They’re going to kill you!”  
Max stared for a moment before glancing around at the zombies, slowly picking themselves off the ground.   
“Yeah,” Max agreed. “Sorry, I just...look I don’t have time to explain right now!” He turned towards the entrance to the ally, where more zombies kept lurching in. Neil turned towards Nikki.   
“This is a hoard!” He yelled to her. “We can’t fight them all, we need to get the hell out of here!”   
Nikki ran towards them.  
“How do we get away?” She said. “We cant get past the- oh wait look!”   
The girl pointed to a metal fire escape on the wall of the left building.   
“Is that going to work?” Neil questioned, hitting another zombie.  
The fire escape was about 3 feet to the left of the big dumpster, and maybe 4 feet higher.   
“It’s worth a shot!” Nikki elbowed a zombie hard in the throat and scrambled into the dumpster. “Neil, gimme a boost!”  
The tall boy climbed the dumpster, let Nikki step into his clasped hands, and hoisted her up just high enough for her to roll onto the rickety fire escape.   
“Come on, Max!”  
Max whistled twice for the dog.   
“Here, girl!”  
The german shepherd’s ears perked up and it immediately sprung onto the dumpster. Then, to Neil’s astonishment, the dog leapt the entire height from there onto the fire escape.   
“How did-“  
“Let’s just say she’s awesome and leave it at that,” Max said. “Now help me up.”  
Neil gave him a boost, kicking away a zombie.   
“We need to get out of here, Neil!” Nikki called from above. “Take my hand!” She reached out to him.  
He was about to grab her hand when-   
“Food! I have to get the food!”   
“What?!” Max and Nikki yelled in unison.  
Neil dove for the cooler, shoving away more zombies as he hoisted it up onto the dumpster.   
“Grab it, you two!” He held out the cooler as far as he could, and, by some miracle, Max and Nikki pulled it out of his grasp and onto the fire escape with them.   
“Now come on!” Nikki stretched out her hand for Neil.   
“We gotta fucking go!” Max yelled. “I don’t think this thing is gonna hold us much longer!”   
The old fire escape was groaning, it’s rusty metal sagging under their weight.   
Neil grabbed Nikki’s hand as she used her other hand to grasp his arm.   
Suddenly he felt a wet, cold hand slide around his bare ankle, trying to pull him down.   
Neil screamed as he tried kicking the zombie away, but it was strong. He looked down to see that not all the flesh had rotted off of its arm yet, meaning it probably still had muscle under there.   
“It’s got me!” Neil screeched, panicking.   
“You have to hurry, Neil!” Nikki pulled his arm desperately, eyes wide with panic. “You’re too heavy!”  
A second pair of hands suddenly grabbed Neil’s arms, and Max looked down at his friend with a fire in his eyes.   
“Get up here, you big fucking idiot!” He yelled. “If we don’t leave we die, and we sure as hell aren’t leaving without you!”  
Neil grinned and finally managed to jerk his ankle away from the zombie’s grip.   
He jumped up, letting Nikki and Max pull him up and onto the fire escape.   
“Ha ha..” Neil laughed in relief. “Thanks, Max.”  
Max smirked.   
“I’m glad you too are making up,” Nikki put a hand on each of their shoulders. “Buuuut, we aren’t safe yet, boys! We gotta get off this thing before it all comes down, so let’s go!”  
Nikki bounded up the wobbly stairs, followed shortly by Max and the dog, and then Neil, carrying the cooler.   
The fire escape breaker and groaned after them, and just as they made it off and onto the building roof, finally gave way.   
The trio looked over the side just in time to see the metal bolts springing out of the wall, letting the rusty metal loudly crash in a heap onto the alleyway full of zombies.  
The metal cut through their soft, rotting flesh and severed their brittle limbs, splattering black blood all over the ally.   
Max, Nikki and Neil let out sighs of relief.   
“Thank god...” Max puffed, sitting down on an AC unit. “That was the worst fucking hoard I’ve seen since this damn thing started!”  
“I know right? But that was awesome!” Nikki grabbed at her frizzy hair, lacrosse stick clattering to the ground. “That dog kicked more ass than me! Max, where did you get this amazing dog?!”   
Neil sat down on the cooler as Nikki knelt down to the dog’s level and let her sniff her hand.  
“Are you Air Bud?”  
Max smirked and patted the dog’s head.  
“Her name’s Maya. I found her right after this thing got started. She’s a fucking monster.”   
Maya’s tongue hung out, smiling and wagging her tail as Max scratched her head.  
Nikki rubbed behind the dog’s ears happily, eyes wide with adoration.   
“Whooo’s a good monster? Who’s a good monster? You are!”

“Hey...” Max turned to Neil. “I’m sorry for attacking you earlier...that was a dick move.” He ruffled his hair awkwardly. “I just got riled up and I took it out on my best friend. Sorry.”  
Neil tried to tell him it’s okay, I’m just glad we’re still alive now. But Max kept talking.   
“You know how I...froze? And did the same thing the day this started? Well... I’ve got something to tell you guys.”   
Nikki stopped petting Maya and turned to Max, who Neil was already listening attentively to.   
“I...”  
Pause.  
“I have schizophrenia.”  
“Skits-alfredo?” Nikki asked, puzzled by the big word.  
“SCHIZOPHRENIA.” Max corrected the girl. “There’s all these voices in my head telling me that I’m not good enough...that I deserve to die.”  
Neil and Nikki looked at each other, eyes wide.   
“Is that what happened in-“   
“In eighth grade?” Max finished. “Yeah.” He looked down at the pale scars crisscrossing his wrists. “It’s been really bad these past few years.  
“I thought that if I ignored it, it would go away, but it just makes it worse.” He continued. “It’s quiet for a while, but it all builds up and gets too much and then...” Max gulped. “I just thought you guys should know.”  
“Max, you should have told us sooner,” Neil said, heart in his throat.  
“We’ve always been by your side, we would’ve understood,” Nikki added. “We can help you, you know.”  
Neil looked down at his feet.  
“You know... that day in eighth grade?” He said quietly. “That was most scared I had ever been in my life.” His voice broke a little. “You should have let us help, instead of waiting for enough voices in your head to tell you to hurt yourself that you actually do.”  
Max smiled softly.   
“Well, now you know. And I’ve lasted this long, right?”  
Nikki laughed.   
“No surprise there, your definitely the strongest one here!”  
“What?” Max snorted. “You could pick me up and yeet me off the edge of this building right now if you wanted to!”  
“Ha! You wanna go?”   
“Hell yeah, try me, bitch!” Max laughed, beating his chest.   
Neil laughed, and reached into the cooler.  
“Geez, I’m beat,” he said, rummaging around. “Catch, you guys!”   
He tossed bottles of gatorade for Max and Nikki. Blue for Max,   
Red for Nikki.   
Neil took a yellow one and raised it in front of him.   
“Cheers to finally cold drinks!”  
“Cheers for Maya the monster!” Nikki whooped, making Maya pant and smile.   
Max grinned and raised his own.   
“Cheers to surviving this shit together!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cheers I’ll drink to that bro


	6. Update

Just letting everyone who reads this messy fic know that the next chapter will be a little while.   
Basically there’s a lot of weird stuff going on right now, and it’s stressing me out.   
If you don’t want to know about all the fucked shit, you don’t have to read, but I might need to get some stuff out.   
My girlfriend dumped me after a year-and-a-half long relationship, because for the last three months, she was crushing on one of my friends. She dumped me the day before homecoming, and went with her new boyfriend, as cheesy as that might be. Since we were best friends before we got together, I guess she expected us to be all good and go back to being friends. But I had had enough and so I’ve been ignoring her for a month now.   
All my life I’ve been a pretty good kid. Unlike my friends, my parents are still married, I’ve never been to therapy, or had any mental problems. I’m generally a really happy person. And since I’m like that, my girlfriend thought that I wouldn’t take the breakup too bad.   
The reality is very different, of course. This is the worst I’ve ever felt in my entire life, and it’s been going on for a month now.   
She acts like such a nice person that she can make people feel sorry for her even when she was the one who hurt me.  
Since I’m usually upbeat and happy, nobody knows how to talk to me when I’m sad or angry. So my friends haven’t really been much help.   
Anyway, it’s been rough, so the next chapter probably won’t be for a while.   
Thanks for listening to my bullshit, I just needed to vent a little.

**Author's Note:**

> CONSTRUCTIVE FEEDBACK IS HIGHLY ENCOURAGED!!!


End file.
